Apr. 1, 2013
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Opening day is finally here. / Steve Mitchell, USA TODAY Sports

by Ted Berg, USA TODAY Sports

by Ted Berg, USA TODAY Sports

The Nationals line up at the start of the 2012 season. (PHOTO: H. Darr Beiser/USA TODAY)

With 24 Major League Baseball teams set to enjoy opening day on Monday, it seemed as appropriate a time as any to count down the very best things about the occasion.

10. Fresh looks: We get a bit of a preview during spring training, but opening day every year comes with a smattering of new uniforms around the league. This season, only the Astros entered with a full-blown redesign, and theirs is admirable: A return to the handsome navy-and-orange look from their past. The Pirates and White Sox will both incorporate throwback looks more regularly this season, and the Mets, Cardinals and Brewers have all introduced new alternate jerseys.

9. Ballpark favorites again available: Typically, food available inside ballparks is good or bad only by the standards of food available inside ballparks. But recent trends toward more local fare at games means better choices for snacking while watching baseball. Fans of AT&T Park's lauded garlic fries, Citi Field's steak sandwich or Coors Field's s'more nachos can again feed their cravings. And for everyone else, opening day provides an opportunity to eat hot dogs without being judged.

8. Spring training is over: What's more agonizing than the last couple weeks of spring training? It's a total tease: Professional baseball played at sub-professional levels, with games featuring the league's top stars being replaced in the fifth inning by some anonymous 20-year-old wearing No. 93. At some point, you stop caring who's in great shape and who needs to refine his curveball and just start sitting around hoping your team's best players don't get hurt before the season even starts. Those left standing have made it. So have you. Hooray for the regular season!

7. Bunting: Sacrifice bunting may be divisive among baseball fans, but ceremonial bunting certainly is not. Baseball clubs roll out their most festive textiles only a handful of times every season, so the bunting decorating every stadium on opening day helps you know it's a celebration.

President William Howard Taft throws out the first pitch at a game in 1912. (PHOTO: AP Photo)

6. The pageantry: Beyond the bunting, there's also the first pitch, the best local celebrity available singing the national anthem, and, best of all, the introduction of every player, coach and trainer. How often do you get an opportunity to cheer a bullpen catcher you're sure is doing a particularly good job? This is it, so let him hear it.

5. Ridiculous "pace" stats: For one day in 1994, Cubs outfielder Karl "Tuffy" Rhodes was on pace to hit 486 home runs in a season after a three-homer opening day outburst. Stuff like that captures everyone's imagination, however briefly. Rhodes hit only five more home runs in his Major League career (though he eventually hit a lot more in Japan). Maybe 2013 is the season somebody hits 486 home runs. Probably not.

4. Skipping school/work: This one depends on having cool parents or an understanding boss, but there's hardly anything better than eschewing real-life responsibilities to spend a day in the sun watching baseball. It is this writer's firm opinion that opening day should be made a national holiday, but until that happens, you should probably consider playing hooky.

3. All of the aces!: Once the season gets rolling, it's not often you'll be able to flip through channels and watch Justin Verlander, Clayton Kershaw, Cole Hamels, Stephen Strasburg, Johnny Cueto, Felix Hernandez and Matt Cain all on the same day. It's awesome.

2. Every team is undefeated: Just before opening day, you inevitably hear and read plenty of predictions about what will happen during the season from experts on the airwaves, in the newspapers, around the internet, and sitting next to you at the bar. Guess what? Forget 'em all. Almost every year there's some team comes out of nowhere to defy everything everyone expected and succeed. Maybe this is your team's year. Hope is the whole point.